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Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up the first international summit on the New Silk Road project in Beijing on Monday, saying it had reached a broad consensus and achieved positive results.

State leaders and officials from over 100 countries, including Russia, Philippines, United States and European Union member states, were gathered here to discuss China’s Belt and Road initiative which seeks to boost trade through massive investments in railroads, ports and other infrastructure from Asia to Europe and Africa.

Xi told a press conference at the conclusion of the summit that he had every reason to be confident in the future of the ambitious project, although it will be a long undertaking.

“This forum has sent a positive message to the rest of the world that we will work together to advance Belt and Road international cooperation and build a community of shared future for mankind,” he said after a leaders' summit at the Yanqi Lake International Convention Centre in Beijing.

“It is our hope that through the Belt and Road development, we will unleash new driving forces for economic growth, build new platforms for global development and rebalance economic globalisation.”

Xi and leaders of 29 countries reaffirmed in a joint communiqué their "commitment to build open economy, ensure free and inclusive trade, oppose all forms of protectionism including in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative".

The declaration promotes a rules-based, open and multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organisation at its core, and encourages all signatories of the Paris climate change agreement to fully implement the accord.

Xi said that China has now signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 68 countries and international organisations and that the forum had passed a list of 270 achievements.

He also announced that the next Belt and Road Forum will be held in 2019.

‘Project of the century'

The two-day summit came as China is increasingly taking leadership in the management of the global economy. This follows US President Donald Trump announcing his ‘America First’ policies and withdrawing the country from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.

Beijing seeks international support for its flagship trade and foreign policy initiative, which was first proposed in 2013 and involves 65 countries along the ancient Silk Road trade routes and beyond.

On Sunday, Xi pledged US$124 billion in new funding to the initiative and hailed it as “a project of the century” that was open to all countries across the globe and that would help address economic, development and security challenges faced by the world today.

“The Belt and Road initiative has become a global cooperation platform and not just an initiative but practice,” Professor Wang Yiwei from Beijing’s Renmin University told gbtimes at the summit.

Wang said China’s strong capacity for action and position as both the world’s second largest economy and the biggest emerging country has helped to draw interest from various countries towards the Belt and Road initiative.

US, European concerns

With US$900bn worth of planned projects announced earlier, the initiative is expected to create an infrastructure building boom and help increase trade links between China and other countries.

But whereas Russia, Pakistan, UK and others expressed their strong support to the initiative at the forum, EU member countries and the US also voiced concerns about reciprocity and the transparency of the project.

Both Germany’s Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries and Trump’s special adviser Matthew Pottinger said businesses in their countries were willing to join but called for open and fair tenders and concrete details about the project.

European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen welcomed the initiative but urged Beijing speed up talks on EU-China investment agreement in order to show its commitment to an open economy and reciprocity.

Early stages

Although Beijing has insisted the Belt and Road initiative is inclusive and will benefit all participants, some are concerned that China will use it to bolster its political influence abroad and that contracts under the plan will be mainly awarded to Chinese companies.

Sameh El-Shahat, President of Beijing-based China-i that advises the Chinese government and state-owned companies on risk management, told gbtimes that the biggest challenge facing the Belt and Road initiative was social acceptability.

“Social acceptability of the projects will mean that even if the project is financially viable, people can still reject it,” he said, adding that it was important for Chinese companies to involve all stakeholders and not just talk to governments.

“I believe China has got the political will to do that. But raising know-how and building capacity to identify risks and deal with them will take time,” he said.

While praising the outcomes of the first Belt and Road summit, Xi himself appeared to acknowledge that the initiative is still in its early stages and faces many challenges.